New Delhi, Oct 5 (IANS) Salman Ali Agha has been sacked as the captain of the Pakistan men’s T20I team, with Sahibzada Farhan replacing him in the role for the upcoming three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka that begins on Friday in Rawalpindi.
Apart from being sacked as captain, Salman has also been dropped from the T20I team altogether as Pakistan named their T20I squad for the Sri Lanka series and also for the ODI tri-series featuring Sri Lanka and England.
The Men in Green have not been impressive under Salman, having lost the Asia Cup final last year to India and having failed to make it to the semifinals of the T20 World Cup 2026.
Sahibzada recently led Pakistan to the silver medal at the Asian Games, where they lost to the Men in Blue.
Meanwhile, Naseem Shah has been called back into the side after last featuring in the T20 World Cup 2026. Razaullah, Pakistan’s hero in the third Test against England, has been handed his maiden white-ball call-ups in both squads.
The squad has several changes from the team that played in the T20 World Cup. Former captain Babar Azam is also not in the T20I team for the series, while a few Asian Games performers have been rewarded.
Hasan Nawaz, who played a strong 96 against India in the Asiad final, has kept his place. Before the Aichi-Nagoya Games, he last played a T20I in November 2025.
Abdul Samad, Maaz Sadaqat, Arafat Minhas, and Sufiyan Moqim have also been picked after featuring in the Asian Games and not being part of the World Cup squad.
Shaheen Afridi has also not been named in the T20I series; however, he leads the ODI team for the tri-series that begins on October 18 in Rawalpindi. Salman has been picked in the ODIs after being removed as T20I captain.
This series also marks the return of Shaun Tait as Pakistan’s bowling coach after he served in the role from February 2022 for a year.
Pakistan T20I squad for Sri Lanka series:
Sahibzada Farhan (capt), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Arafat Minhas, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Nawaz, Muhammad Imran Randhawa, Khawaja Nafay (wk), Maaz Sadaqat, Naseem Shah, Razaullah, Saim Ayub, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Shadab Khan, Sufiyan Moqim
Pakistan ODI squad for tri-series:
Shaheen Shah Afridi (capt), Abrar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori (wk), Haris Rauf, Hasan Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Razaullah, Saad Baig (wk), Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Sufiyan Moqim
–IANS
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